It's surprising—but not shocking. As an AVN Novelty Business contributing editor and Alabama resident, I know first-hand how some people in this state regard the use of dildos, vibrators… OK, any sex toy…Down here, it's hard to find a person who will go on record admitting he or she even possesses sexual organs, much less devices designed to stimulate them. At least, that's what you'd believe after Wednesday's ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
The Williams v. Alabama Valentine's Day verdict upholding the constitutionality of the state's 1998 ban on the sale of adult novelties comes at the end of a nine-year battle to overturn the bill, which was added to the state's then-standing obscenity law. The ruling stipulates that states have a "legitimate rational basis" for making rules to preserve public morality.
I fear that this case may only encourage the popular opinion that Alabama is nothing more than a backward state. That's not us OK, not all of us.
There is enough demand in Alabama from people who want nothing more than to explore their own sensuality or that of their partner (or partners) that several stores in the state currently are operating despite the law, but soon may face the possibility of closing their doors.
Sherri Williams, owner of the Pleasures adult novelty shops in Huntsville and Decatur, Ala., has been leading the fight to have the ban lifted. Out of the frustration of not having an activist group capable of challenging such a law, she founded the National Alliance of Activist & Trade Organization, or NAATO, a nonprofit organization aimed at restoring and keeping citizens' rights to sexual privacy. Now, Williams and eight other plaintiffs have explored all their legal options after bringing the case to the appellate court for a third time.
"I have successfully sued them for nine years to overturn this law, and I have no more appeals left," says Williams.
While Williams has had previous success with two favorable decisions in the case, those victories are eclipsed by the four rulings in support of maintaining the ban.
The only positive aspect about the negative rulings is, with each litigation, the court is inclined to review the merits of previous rulings—both positive and negative.
AVN legal contributor Clyde DeWitt has been following the case. "If it is beyond the power of government to prohibit two individuals of the same gender from privately engaging in sexual activities," says DeWitt, "it is likewise overreaching to forbid the purchase of items that are designed for acts of private masturbation."
Williams urges Alabama residents and all of her supporters to show their encouragement this weekend by visiting Pleasures stores or pledging donations to NAATO. If enough support is gathered, Williams intends to open a new legal case in hopes of opening the eyes of the lawmakers of this fair state.
Williams continues to act as proof that not all Alabamans are ashamed of their libidos.
